Point of View

Lily’s story is told from the first-person point of view. Consider: “As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can’t help but think about suicide” (3). Lily refers to herself as “I” indicating that she is telling her own story in her own words. This point of view is important as Lily transforms from a teenager who is angry with her mother for staying with an abusive spouse to a woman trying to determine how she has become caught up in a similar situation.

Through the use of the first-person point of view, the reader becomes emotionally invested in Lily and her story. The reader can sympathize with her loss of Atlas because almost everyone can remember the pain of the breakup with their first real love. The...